Critical Care Bed Capacity in Asian Countries and Regions

Abstract

Objective: To assess the number of adult critical care beds in Asian countries and regions in relation to population size. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: Twenty-three Asian countries and regions, covering 92.1% of the continent’s population. Participants: Ten low-income and lower-middle–income economies, five upper-middle–income economies, and eight high-income economies according to the World Bank classification. Interventions: Data closest to 2017 on critical care beds, including ICU and intermediate care unit beds, were obtained through multiple means, including government sources, national critical care societies, colleges, or registries, personal contacts, and extrapolation of data. Measurements and Main Results: Cumulatively, there were 3.6 critical care beds per 100,000 population. The median number of critical care beds per 100,000 population per country and region was significantly lower in low- and lower-middle–income economies (2.3; interquartile range, 1.4–2.7) than in upper-middle–income economies (4.6; interquartile range, 3.5–15.9) and high-income economies (12.3; interquartile range, 8.1–20.8) (p = 0.001), with a large variation even across countries and regions of the same World Bank income classification. This number was independently predicted by the World Bank income classification on multivariable analysis, and significantly correlated with the number of acute hospital beds per 100,000 population (r 2 = 0.19; p = 0.047), the universal health coverage service coverage index (r 2 = 0.35; p = 0.003), and the Human Development Index (r 2 = 0.40; p = 0.001) on univariable analysis. Conclusions: Critical care bed capacity varies widely across Asia and is significantly lower in low- and lower-middle–income than in upper-middle–income and high-income countries and regions.

Ecological and Health Infrastructure Factors Affecting the Transmission and Mortality of COVID-19

“…(15,16) ICU and critical care bed data for the US and other countries were collected from the Modern Healthcare site and previously published data, respectively. (17)(18)(19) The number of ports by country and state was provided by the World Port Source. (20) The number of primary international airports for the US, as de ned as having over 10,000 passenger boardings per year, was based on the Federal Aviation Administration classi cation.…”

Covid-19 risks and response in South Asia

“…Relatively few hospitals are able to isolate patients and provide intensive care with respiratory support. South Asia has an estimated 0.7-2.8 critical care beds per 100 000 population 9. Authorities have focused inappropriately on buying ventilators without paying adequate attention to the extra human resources (trained intensivists, nurses, and respiratory care technicians) required to run these services.…”

ICU beds: less is more? Yes

“…Many health care systems struggle to provide optimal care to the critically ill because they lack sufficient ICU beds. For instance, Bangladesh has less than one ICU bed per 100,000 citizens [3]. Insufficient ICU beds result in patients who might benefit from ICU care not receiving it [4].…”